The Aggies Get Their Man

GREENSBORO, N.C.– When Dolores Todd, Athletic Director of NC A&T State University announce the dismissal of former Head football coach George Small and vowed to replace him with someone with Division I experience, she was not kidding. Mrs. Todd announce the hiring of Lee Fobbs Jr., as head football coach at North Carolina A&T State University during a press conference at the Bryan Fitness and Wellness Center.

Fobbs, 55, will end a three-year stint as the Texas A&M Aggies’ running back coach to become the 16th head football coach in N.C. A&T Aggies history, starting January 3. Fobbs has played a vital role on seven different Division I-A staffs, including Texas A&M, Alabama, Baylor, Minnesota, Southern Mississippi, Louisiana State and Tulane. He has also coached at the Division I-AA level at Louisiana-Monroe.

He began his coaching career in 1975 as a graduate assistant under legendary Grambling coach Eddie Robinson.

After leaving Grambling he eventually became the head football coach and athletics director for his high school alma mater, Carroll High School from 1985-1988. In his final two seasons there, he led Carroll to the Louisiana State Class 2AA semifinals and Class 2AAA quarterfinals respectively.

“This is an extremely important hire,’’ said Todd. “We are pleased to have named coach Fobbs as the new leader of Aggie football. We feel like he is someone who will enhance our football program, he will be an outstanding leader in our community and he is someone who will personify Aggie Pride.”

“You cannot find a better coach or person than Lee Fobbs,’’ said Bill Byrne, current director of athletics at Texas A&M, and the former director of athletics at Nebraska.

Fobbs has coached running backs at three different Division I-A schools, and the running backs under his tutelage have enjoyed great success. This past season, Texas A&M had three different runners rush for more than 550 yards. Two of those runners – Courtney Lewis and Jorvorski Lane – were among the top rushers in the Big 12 conference. Each of the runners averaged more than 5.0 yards per carry, while combining for 19 rushing touchdowns.

In 2004, two Texas A&M runners rushed for more than 700 yards, averaged a combined 4.5 yards per carry and scored 17 times. During Fobbs’ first year as the running back coach at Texas A&M, Lewis was just four yards shy of reaching 1,000 yards on the season. He averaged 5.7 yards per carry and scored 11 touchdowns.

Fobbs’ experience coaching a variety of positions has led to many different players achieving NFL success once leaving the leadership he exhibited. Among those players are former San Francisco wide receiver Odessa Turner, former Arizona Cardinals tight end Terry Hardy and former Indianapolis Colts running back Roosevelt Potts. Fobbs has helped five other players enjoy NFL success including, Kenny Mixon, Dwight Johnson, Gabe Northern, Santonio Beard and Ahmaad Galloway.

Fobbs is a 1973 graduate of Grambling University. He played for the Tigers under Robinson from 1968-72. He was an All-SWAC performer his junior and senior seasons, and was drafted in the eighth round by the Buffalo Bills in 1973. Fobbs also played professionally with the Canadian Football League’s Ottawa Rough Riders and Winnipeg Jets, and the WFL’s Detroit Wheels and Birmingham Stallions.

Fobbs is a Monroe, La., native. He and his wife Sheila have three children – Broderick, Jamaal and Chelsea.